Chapter 66


    Chapter Sixty-Six


    JACE


    It’s like a part of my heart is severing apart.


    The pain is swift and intense.


    This isn’t just a rejection of the pack, this is the destruction of my family.


    “Cam…how can you do this?” I knew there would be repercussions. But this…


    I’m doing you a favor, brother. It might not seem like it now. But it’s the only way I can let you have the


    life you deserve.


    I’m speechless.


    You looked out for Mia. When I was cursed and mindless, you helped hold our pack together. You


    solved the financial crises when Ashley’s embezzlement could’ve spelledplete ruination for our


    We’re not out of the woods on that yet…but in time, we’ll surmount the setbacks.


    Cam nods.


    This isn’t a punishment, brother.


    I arch a brow.


    Okay it is. But not in the way it seems. Your witch… she can’t be here. Not in the wake of what she’s


    done, what her coven has done. You know this.


    I did.


    And Morgan deserved better.


    Take her with you. To our holdings in Colorado. He stands andes around the desk. Try not to think


    about this as an ‘end,’ but as a new beginning.


    Cam pulls me into a hard hug and I crush him back.


    This is my brother.


    My best friend.


    My Alpha.


    “I’m going to miss you,” I whisper.


    “We’ll visit.”


    I thump his back twice and then head out. Only when I shove open the door, eager to share the news


    with Morgan… she’s gone.


    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


    MORGAN


    My heart is broken.


    I draw my magic and change my mour.


    I look like Den.


    He’s quiet, well-liked. Aside from nodding at a few passing wolves, no one stops or questions me.


    I walk out of the mansion and across the square. I enter one of the giant garage facilities and see keys


    lining the wall on a neat little board. Like some friggin’ valet service.


    I grab the first ones, hit the unlock button and wait to see which headlights blink.


    It’s a nondescript SUV. ck paint, tinted windows.


    It’ll do.


    In under a minute, I’m driving out of the square.


    It’s several minutes before I hit the security gate and the giant wrought iron structure swings open. No


    muss, no fuss.


    I guess they are more concerned with keeping others ‘out’ rather than keeping these wolves ‘in.’


    I nod toward the men in the guardhouse. One waves.


    When I reach the road I turn left.


    I have no idea where I’m going.


    I have nowhere to go.


    The thought opens a pit in my stomach that burns and hurts and makes me question a reason for


    living.


    I y back the conversation I overheard in the office. Yes, I was eavesdropping and using my powers


    to do it. But I won’t apologize for that.


    I was worried about Jace.


    I was listening in case Cameron wanted to punish Jace for what he did to save me in the Circle or if he


    nned to punish him for our failed mission to my coven’sbs. Or, you know, because my coven was


    the one that spelled him into a stupor in the first ce.


    What I heard… devastated me.


    Yes. Morgan Devereaux is the most powerful witch in a generation. Yes, she is a threat.


    Despite everything I’ve done. Every sacrifice I’ve made…


    I’m still an outsider.


    I gave Jace my heart, my soul, my trust.


    My body.


    And he used me.


    When push came to shove with his precious pack, he didn’t defend me. He didn’t even try to fight for


    me.


    When asked if I could have a future with him, in his pack. His answer was No.


    I swipe angrily at the tears that leak free.


    The one time I let my guard down, the one time I let a guy get close to me…


    I punch the steering wheel.


    He’d been so tender. Every interaction aimed at protection–or pleasure. Even when he had no reason


    to trust me… when I could’ve decimated his entire pack, he gave me a chance.


    He believed in me.


    I thought…gods, I’m so stupid…I thought maybe he loved me. That against all odds we could be happy


    together.


    I was naive and needy and so desperate to be loved that I fell into this situation. And I have no one to


    me but myself for my stupidity.


    I cry harder.


    I am alone in this world.


    After what I’ve done…it will rock the supernatural covenmunity.


    No witch will trust me. I have betrayed everything we stand for. I’ve forsaken my own species.


    And my mother… her fury will be fierce.


    Chills traipse up my arms. I tighten my hands on the wheel.


    Her judgment will be swift and brutal. I’ve humiliated her. Undermined her position in the coven with my


    treachery. And I’vepromised her program at Ethereal Corporation. The biochemistry research


    division that she personally pioneered and oversees.


    I drive faster, wanting to put as much distance between me and this ce as I can.


    I check the rearview mirror frequently.


    More of that wishful thinking, that Jace mighte chasing after me.


    I hate myself for that small, pitiful hope. I hate that I can’t even let him go when every single thing


    points to him using me.


    That time in California…


    I think of his hands on my skin, his mouth on my body. How could he make love like that if I meant


    nothing?


    I swipe more tears.


    Shame settles in my stomach making me wish I could shower. He’s on my skin. I’m not a wolf with


    some preternatural sense of smell, but I can still scent him. If I close my eyes, I can smell him and hear


    the sounds he made while thrusting into my body, see the look in his eyes–the joy, the wonder.


    I never felt so connected to any other person.


    I know I never will again.


    I force a deep breath and then another.


    Enough of this.


    I need a n. Feeling sorry for myself won’t solve anything.


    I don’t know where I’ll go or how I’ll survive.


    I imagine this is how Mia felt when she left this ce–broken and alone, destitute and desperate.


    Thinking of her, my heart is heavy again. I wronged her.


    I think she realizes in the choices I’ve made recently and the actions I’ve taken that I’ve tried–truly–to


    make amends.


    She might never forgive me though, and I’ll have to make my peace with that as well.


    “Okay, Morgan,” I say to my reflection in the rearview. “Suck it up.”


    My eyes are red and my nose is swollen.


    I nce back at the road and see a child standing in front of me.


    “Holy shi–”


    I m on the brakes and cut the wheel.


    The SUV careens off the road and into a ditch, the vehicle flips and I have the worst feeling of


    weightlessness before crashing into the ground.


    It all happens in a fraction of a second.


    The seatbelt jerks against my chest painfully as the airbag explodes in my face.


    The impact breaks my nose and burns my face.


    I swat at the inted bag and try to process what just happened.


    I’m upside down. The car is still running.


    I turn off the ignition for fear of an explosion.


    I unbuckle the belt and copse out of my seat onto the ceiling. “Ouch!”


    Think. Don’t panic. Think.


    First step, get out of the vehicle. I can’t get the door to open, it’s too smashed in, so I have to roll down


    the window.


    I climb out and look at the road. There is nothing there.


    Then I feel the electrical charge. The tiny change in the air that is a precursor to magic.


    Old magic. Dark magic.


    Before I can turn around, a familiar voice says…“You’ve been a very bad girl, Morgan.”